Legal Question in DUI Law in Washington
refused breathalyzer on road passed at station
My sister was pulled over for not wearing a seat belt. She had 2 glasses of wine over the course of dinner and a couple hours. She was not drunk. The officer I guess smelled something at the time. She says he was very aggressive and she was wearing clogs and felt very nervous. He says she failed the field tests and wanted her to take breath test. She said she didn't want to because he was scaring her. They arrested her took her to the station and the other officer was much more normal and kind. She took the breath test 2 times there and was below the limit both times. She has to go to court still though as the other officer says she ''failed miserably the field tests'' but it sounds like he was over zealous. She has never had any thing like this happen before and does not drive drunk or even get drunk. Of course she is nervous and doesn't know what to say at court. any help here. Should she even be worried.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: refused breathalyzer on road passed at station
Thank you for your question and your nice explanation of what happened. Officers can very often be out of line and sometimes way out of line. I'm sorry to hear of your sister's experience.
As to whether she should worry. I tell all of my clients not to worry. The course of a case can be lengthy, worry rarely helps and the punishment rarely as bad as envisioned. That said, she could be convicted of the offense of DUI. DUI can be committed two ways, either a BAC over .08 or driving that "exhibiting the effects" of having consumed alcohol. They are proceeding under the second. It is crucial to this case that she was pulled over for a seat belt violation--no swerving, speeding, or other bad driving--so that it will be difficult to make a showing that the alcohol effected her driving.
While there is never a guarantee of winning a case, between the below .08 BAC and the absense of bad driving, this is the kind of case I'd be happy to have for trial.
Best of luck to you and feel free to contact me further if you have other questions.
At your service,
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